Women, Wine...and Inspiration!

Left: Gallery Owner Debbie Campbell is joined by Intertwined Creator Camine Pappas and Intertwined Artist Cynthia Howard. Middle: Event goers enjoy a display of each of the Intertwined verses.

Descending down the stairs into Providence Fine Art Gallery in Charlotte, NC, this week was like entering a different world. The popular gallery, owned by Debbie Campbell was humming with conversation, laughter, the sound of wine being uncorked and poured, and the soft whisper of paint brushes gliding across gleaming, white canvases.
It all centered around the very special event on the 22nd and 23rd of February held by Networking, Women and Wine, a Charlotte based networking group formed in 2008 by Camine Pappas. The event heralded the beginning of a new way to "say it with the vine in mind!" as Camine (creator and author of Intertwined) and artist Cynthia Howard celebrated the unveiling of the "Intertwined" gift card series.

What is so different about wine, a greeting card line and women? Plenty. The card line, which offers powerful sentiments set against a background of beautiful paintings of grape clusters and vines, was launched with eight, inspiring messages. Aptly and poignantly themed with titles such as, "Bursting With Promise," "Peace Will Return," and "I Choose To Forgive," the greetings articulate the words of encouragement and wisdom that women love to share. The twist is that each message is said as though the vine itself is speaking from deep within her viniferous soul.

Why? By blending the timeless beauty and wisdom of the vine with the strength, diversity and journey of women, fans of the vineyard can share their sentiments through powerful poetry and art and literally, "say it with the vine in mind™." The hope is that women will attach themselves to this universal metaphor and see that our collective experiences are mirrored by the vine through graceful, powerful and triumphant words, to find the possibility and potential built into each one of us.

Joining in the event were wine sponsors Tryon Distributing and Mutual Distributing  who poured, respectively, the popular Women of the Vine wines on Tuesday, and the whimsical Middle Sister Wines on Wednesday. The wine was provided by D'Vine Wine Cafe in Ballantyne, multiple winner of the City Search Best of Charlotte "Best Wine List" award, and managed by Justin Boudrie.
However, it was the musings of the attendees that most aptly described the theme of the evening. "I see myself in these words!" shared one woman who brought three of her friends to enjoy the festivities.

"You have said what we are all thinking and never had the words to say.." was another powerful quote.

All in all, over 130 attendees found themselves sipping wine, making new friends, and becoming Intertwined in a very special way. If you want to become a part of Networking, Women and Wine, FRIEND us on Facebook and learn more about how to "BeIntertwined." You will receive updates, invitations and more connection through the best vine of all, the friendship of like-minded women.

A picture is worth a thousands sips!

I was perusing iStockphoto.com the other day, a royalty free site for downloading stock photos, looking for images to help market my new line of wine gift items called Intertwined and to specifically feature women in the wine business. I put the words, women and wine in the search terms. Hmmm. Lots of returns, but all the women are at a party. Then I tried by searching with the terms, wine makers and women. Oh yeah. You're right. Nothing.

I was amazed! Could it be that the world of the female and the wonderful, organic journey of the vine are so mutually exclusive in our commercial culture that there are no photos of women wine makers on a huge database of photos like iStock?

The sad answer is yes. And my friend Deborah Brenner, author of "Women of the Vine" would most likely reveal a sly grin when hearing these words since she has been one of the first pioneers in the wine industry to bring this shortcoming to the forefront.

This narrow window of women in wine portrays little variety other than young women wearing halters and giddily balancing a half glass of merlot between perfectly manicured fingertips. Isn't it obvious how we compliment each other so well? Shouldn't there be a more artful way to "say it with the vine in mind?"TM

I think there is a better way. One of my missions with Networking, Women and Wine, and certainly Intertwined is to show the elegant, albeit obvious relationship between these two important topics. I want women to see how this ancient symbol of prosperity, prose, and wisdom is overflowing with gender-specific metaphors.

And so I am happy to introduce the Elevage Series of greeting cards for Intertwined. Each is a poetic journey celebrating the journey of women as seen through the exquisite lens of the wine grape. Equally exciting is the fact that the unveiling of the inaugural card line for Intertwined will occur February 22 and 23rd at the Providence Art Gallery in Charlotte at 7 p.m..
I want every women who loves wine, who appreciates the important of her own femininity, who cherishes the friendship of women, and who loves art is invited to come to our event. It's FREE, it's accessible, it's un-missable!


We will see you there!